Monday, May 21, 2012

Things that make me laugh...

1. Slade says "oh crack" when he drops something. I try not to, but this makes me laugh every time.

2. Watching the trio play on the video monitor. In the morning you only have to point it at Slade and Claire though, because the moment Ella wakes up, you will hear her.

3. Maren skipping everywhere she goes. Also her kissing slade all the time to much protest.

4. The frequent use of the word "maybe". Claire says "maybe after dinner we eat some ice cream.". "you love my monkey maybe??". So strange but def makes me laugh.

5. The necessity of having their spots and their assigned colors in everything. No grandpa can't sit there, that's my spot! That hair bow is Slades it's blue maybe.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Triplet playdate!

Today we met with a bunch of other triplet families for the annual triplet picnic. Of course I forgot the kids lunch and they had to do with deep fried corn dogs that they were not pleased with. This left them grumpy and ready to go home. It was great to let them see other trips though and i think they'll really appreciate the group as they age and have a harder time finding other kids like them. The only issue is its hard to visit with other moms when everyone is chasing three or more kids:). Alas we had fun and I'm looking forward to my first triplet moms dinner sans kids! Here is a group photo with some of us, the kids with the birds and watching the clown make balloon animals.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Yawn...

My kids are horrible sleepers. Two days in a row I'm up before five. Baby wants to be rocked, Claire wants to be tucked, Ella wants the light on and the piggy book. Slade is an angel. Soooo tired. This is a 100 hr week job with nights on call. The pay stinks but the benefits are great. Yawn!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Flowers


I just have to post this before I forget. Yesterday Ella and Slade picked me flowers and brought them into the kitchen unprovoked for the first time. I loved them!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Update to myself


So I was reading parts of my blog and realized how great it was to have all the memories in one spot. So I'm making a goal to update this thing once per week. You see, Maren's baby book doesn't even have her name in it yet, so I'm hoping this will serve as a point of reference when in 5 years I finally have the time. There probably won't be much pictures as that takes time, but at least I'll have some details.

So, life is hectic. Some days, I feel like I need anti-psychotic drugs to help me survive others I feel like I'm the luckiest girl on earth. The majority are somewhere in between. I'd like to say its all roses, but truth be told, my house is always a mess, I wake up to the smell of poop, most of the time someone is either crying or needing something & I get about 1/2 hour a night to lay on the couch and be lazy with no kids. I worry I'll regret alot of the wonderful things going on because I'm always dealing with the emergencies that one kid has while another is doing something amazing. But lucky for me I have video tape to capture most of it!

On the plus side, the kids keep me smiling all the time (OK well 1/2 the time at least). They talk great now and make me laugh on a daily basis. The triplets like to play puzzles, color, play dough, and they are constantly pulling these plastic yellow dogs around behind them taking them on walks, to target, even sometimes putting them in time out. Maren drives them crazy by messing up their playdoh, throwing their paper in the trash, and stealing their dog. She thinks its hilarious, they flail on the floor, yelling, "noooooooo Marennnnnnnn, moooommmmmmyyyy, helllllppppppp!!!!."

So here is my letter to each of them so I can put it in their baby books later:)

Ella, you are bipolar I think but I hear I was the same way as a child. You are so pretty and your eyes light up when you smile. Sometimes I just stare at you when you talk, thinking how I made something so amazing. You know what you want and insist on it. For instance, if I dare put on sesame street in the morning. You yell, "noooooo I only watch Bernstein Bears or George. mommy you change the channel." If I do, you say thank you:) You are the leader of the pack, telling the other kids what to do in a very nice way most of the time. You laugh with all your belly and tip your head back when you do. You refuse to wear anything in your hair insisting that all ponytails are "too tight." You are beginning to potty train, but so far its been a wreck. Your temper tantrums are second to none, but a quick trip to the playpen and you come back a perfect angel...i.e. the bipolar comment. You are the least clingy of the bunch so I really cherish your out of the blue hugs. I love you.

Claire, right now you are crying that your playdoh isn't working because you have a blue mold and red playdoh. But that's how you are, very precise. In fact, I figure you'll be an engineer as you seem to be able to figure out the intricinties of everything. You by far are the most intellectually advanced child I've ever seen, although emotionally you get very frustrated. You remember everything I say and every morning ask about what I said the prior night. "mommy today grandma is coming and we go to heb to get buddy bucks." You bite your finger nails and toe nails and it drives me insane. You are my 2nd clingliest baby but your really good at it. I don't even have to hold you and you can wrap your arms and legs around my back and hold on like a little koala bear. You love babies and stare at them when they are around. You love your baby maren and always want to hold her even though she is the same size as you. Your the silly ring leader and bring out the laughs in the bunch (right now you are licking your playdoh to make ella & maren laugh). I love you!

Slade, you are still such a sweet little boy but pretty funny too. You like to pretend to be a monster and chase the girls. You tilt your head down, your eyes up and say grrrrr. Sometimes they love it, sometimes they wish you'd go away. You love hugs and kisses and snuggle right up to my neck which i love. Only once since you've started sleeping through the night over 2 years ago have you woken us up. thank you. You love trucks and cars with a passion and still just lay on your belly watching the tires move. You have the best manners and frequently say, "oh I'm sorry," even though it was a different kid who did the deed. You still hate having your diaper change so I really need to potty train you. You just had eye surgery and it went well and its great to have you have both eyes looking at me:) You now love to read and insist on a library in your bed at night. You have temper tantrums a lot too, especially if someone takes something from you. You have this great ability to make your body limp and throw your head, which makes it really hard to calm you. I love you.

Maren your are such an experience and I've really enjoyed it. You have 5 teeth now and use them frequently to bite me. However, afterwards you immediately kiss me and smile. I'm not sure how to punish you but it really hurts. You also hit alot, especially the other kids and they do not like it at all. You do it with a smile and then run. You still have way too many bottles a day but also want to have milk in a cup like the kids. In fact you think you are one of the kids and try to do everything they do. You can already climbing the huge chain ladder to the top of the play scape which is so dangerous but you have to be like them. You are a hugger and a kisser and always want to be held. If I tell you no, you cry like i dropped you on your head. You can say, Ella, Mamma, Dada, Granma, No, yes, more, duck, please, bubbi, and a few more I can't remember. You are definitely copying all we are saying so I'm sure in no time you'll be talking up a storm. I love you marshmallow!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Happy 2nd Birthday Triplets!

Hooray the triplets are 2!!! We've had an incredible year and its gone by soooo fast compared to the first year. They are doing great and have definitely caught up in development to a normal 2 year old in everything but weight.

Ella - She is the smartest little girl you've ever seen. Even the doctor said she is very very advanced for a 2 year old, much less a preemie. She speaks in full sentences, can count to 13, and can sing the entire song of Happy Birthday. She is definitely our bossy little girl but I think its because she can say so much. Today she said, "no Slade that's mine, go get Claire's," in reference to milk. However, she is also our most helpful, always bringing things to her siblings and helping me clean up. She is now in the 24% for weight and even higher for her height.

Slade - He is developing such a boy personality and is so unique. He frequently dances while glaring at his sisters with an evil grin. He loves to cuddle and is the first one to say, "Up-a" to anyone even strangers:) This boy loves trucks, cars and everything with wheels. Every one he sees is either "Dada's Truck" or "Big Daddy's Truck." He loves his grandpas with a passion! He is still really small not hitting the 1% for weight yet, but his height is in the ballpark with other 2 year olds now. And he is talking more and more everyday. He still doesn't quite finish his words, says, "Daw, instead of Dog," for instance, but is improving everyday!


Claire - She is so freaking hilarious I can barely stand it. She hops like a bunny, tickles Maren, and chases everyone. She loves to hug and kiss and especially likes back tickles. She is starting to speak much better as well although she frequently answers Ella with unrecognisable words (at least to us, Ella seems to understand). She is the bravest of the bunch and likes to tell everyone hello. She is catching up with Ella in size and is now only 10oz behind.


All in all they are the most wonderful triplets we could ask for. Now they are demons now and again, especially when hungry or tired, but we will take the bad for all the good! Its definitely been a tough year having 4 kids under 2, but with my wonderful moms help, Brian's dad's help, Michele's help and many others from the family, we have survived!!!


On another note, Maren is doing wonderful. She was a perfect baby until recently when she started teething. Now she is like my little leech and doesn't want anyone else ever. Part of that is that I'm still nursing her and she refuses to touch a bottle. But she is still so beautiful and all my worry about having her has been forgotten. I'm so in love with all these perfect little creatures!!


Finally, just wanted to send out another big thank you to the NICU staff who saved our babies lives 2 years ago. I will never forget what you have done for us! Tanya, you are amazing and I'm so thankful that you are still in the babies lives. We look forward to seeing you all at the NICU next week to personally thank you for our children!


Here is a picture of the triplets age 2 (very hard to get a photo of everyone smiling), a recentish picture of Maren, a photo of all of them in their new stroller and a photo of all of them in our bed.




Sunday, January 30, 2011

Welcome to the World Maren Lila Milligan!!

Maren Lila Milligan made her grand entrance into the world on Jan. 27th at 7:59am. The planned c-section was 3 weeks early but she was still a big girl weighing in at 7lbs 1oz and 19.25 inches. She is so absolutely amazing and we are over the moon to have her in our lives!

The c-section and recovery have been an easy continuation of an easy pregnancy. I walked into labor and delivery around 5:45am and announced my arrival to have a baby. They hooked me up to various machines, I put on some chap stick and then I walked into the operating room. Yes, walked. There they put in my epidural, let my husband come in and right on schedule brought out an amazing baby girl. This was the complete opposite of my previous delivery where I was in labor and terrified of the outcome. It was joyous! I got to see her right away, she screamed the entire time which was music to my ears. Then they brought her to me and set her on my chest where I fell in love with another awesome baby. Brian then was allowed to hold her and carry her in his arms to the nursery. Again, very different than last time where they were whisked away. I then laid there talking to the doctors and nurses while they fixed a hernia and sewed me up. In recovery, they brought in Maren to nurse and she easy and promptly latched on and three days later we still have had great success.

My recovery has been smooth and not near as painful as last time either. I suppose one cut vs several makes a difference. I was up and walking the first day and was able to take a shower on day 2. I really hope I'm not jinxing myself here, but all in all, this has been one of the best experiences in my life.

Today I get to go home and we get to introduce Maren to her brother and sisters. I am soooo excited to see all of my babies together! This is the longest I've ever gone without seeing the triplets and I miss them soooooo much. When I found out I was pregnant with Maren I was absolutely terrified and thought I'd never survive. But now I couldn't be any happier with the outcome and am excited for our new family to be united!!!


Check out all her hair!!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Having a baby tomorrow!

This planned c-section thing is strange.... I will post photos sometime tomorrow.... Goodnight!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Update

So I have about three weeks to go until our fourth little baby is born. Where has the time gone? My c-section is scheduled for January 27th. So since this is most likely my last pregnancy (although I'm not getting "fixed" till I'm 35 in case I change my...Brian's...mind) I wanted to write a bit about it. First off it is way more awesome to be pregnant with one baby than with three. I highly recommend it:) Its so cool to feel the kicking of one huge baby, my stomach rolls day and night. While its freaky as well, its also such an amazing feeling, one that I will miss. While I'm certainly tired and would not live without my mom, Brian's dad and Michele's help, this pregnancy has been overall, dare I say, easy. I'm not in any pain, unlike the triplet pregnancy where I was always sore. Most nights I sleep like a rock and really am comfortable. All in all I can say I really enjoy it and think it would have been cool to spread it out a bit. But I suppose having 4 kids in 18 months is just one other way to do it.

As for the triplets, they are doing so great. I'm really starting to enjoy each of their personalities and their differences. Now they are starting to test limits as well and really enjoy hitting each other. We are working on this though. Claire is hilarious. She runs from me constantly looking back with a smile as if I'm always chasing her even though I may just be typing on the computer. She is happy 90% of the time and smiles such a big smile. Slade is turning into such a boy. He is finally walking although he still prefers to crawl about 60% of the time. He loves to be tickled and loves to do the opposite of whatever I say. Ella is my strong but sweet little lady. She understands everything and yesterday even went into the bedroom and got Slade's pants when I asked her to. She loves shoes and begs to have them on all the time.

All in all, life is good, albeit a bit hectic. I'm still terrified about having a new baby at home but with the help of family and friends I think we will survive. I hope we will survive.

Photos

Professional photo
My attempt at a good christmas photo

Ella Excited
Claire loves her daddy

Looking at me outside

Christmas dinner with the cousins

Ella excited again...

Slade & Daddy

Monday, November 1, 2010

Preemie Photo Contest

Hi! So I've entered the babies into a Preemie contest where they can win a ton of great prizes just for being so spectacular! If you would please take a moment and vote for them, I'd be very appreciative. You can vote once per day and it ends on Nov. 11th. Thank you so much!

http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/65899/voteable_entries/9896705?ogn=website&order=recency

Friday, September 24, 2010

It's a girl!

Sugar and spice and everything nice? Well maybe not to Mr. Slade:) But we are so excited to welcome another frilly fancy princess into our family! She is in perfect health and measuring right on track!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Surprise!

Well, life has gotten busy so I haven't gotten to post those birthday pics yet...one day! Brian ran to get supper so I only have a few minutes for an update. Over the last two months when I didn't post we've had quite a few milestones. Slade can now crawl and pull to standing, Ella can walk, and as of yesterday Claire took about 8 steps alone as well. Its weird having three babies at all different stages but its neat to watch the progression as well. In addition, Claire can blow kisses, point to her nose and dance...or what we like to call dancing anyways. When given a pen, Ella immediately bends down to "draw" which is a big step being that her siblings suck on it immediately instead. Slade blows bubbles on everything and has turned into a fabulous eater so hopefully he'll catch up in weight to his sisters too. Finally all three are now turning the pages of board books and really enjoy the kinds with different textures. OK, so for most people reading this I'm sure this is super boring. However, I haven't updated the baby books in awhile so this is to serve as my bookmark of events. Ella has 5 teeth, Claire 3 and Slade 2. Boring I know.

So the fun part...the surprise. Well it turns out I'm pregnant. I'm actually teetering on being 18 weeks pregnant. This was a surprise however we did plan on having more kids so we like to think of it as early gift. My c-section will be late January although it will be scheduled 3 weeks early due to the amount of scarring I have due to the trio. Being pregnant with one it turns out though is awfully easy...compared to three that is. I had no idea how hard I had it the first time around. I can still almost sleep on my stomach where at this time with the trio I was already on bed rest and measuring around 30 weeks. However, nausea still comes and go's which is a pain. We were definitely shocked to find out the news as I'm sure many of you are as well, but with the help of our wonderful family and friends I'm sure we'll survive. We are excited and can't wait to see what this new little one looks and acts like!

So with that being said, we were quite nervous about our recent trip to Seattle with the babies and me pregnant. But it went so well. They did great on the plane as well as on the train, bus and ferry. We went hiking, took a ferry through the San Juan Islands, ate fresh crab, and got to play in the grass with no fire ants or bugs! One day I'll post those pics as well!!!

Ok Brian's home, I'll try and not wait so long between posts but no promises!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Happy Birthday Babies!!!

On July 19th our tiny little babies turned 1 year old. Its so amazing how far they've come from their under 2lb little bodies. They are crawling, pulling up, babbling, and eating toast for breakfast. We are just so thankful for the doctors and nurses who helped our little trio grow and thrive into the perfect little creatures they are today. Each weekend of the month, we took and individual baby out to lunch for a little alone birthday celebration with mom and dad (and grandpa's). Thank you to Heather, Dustin, Holly, Matt and Darcy for watching the other two so we could make this possible. Each baby enjoyed their alone time and we had fun getting to go out as well! Their birthday was just a small celebration as they will get to have a big party next weekend. The only downside was it was the only time for the babies to have their 1 year checkup, so they had to start their new year with vaccinations. However they handled it well and now all three are on the charts for their weights! What a great year it has been, although its been absolutely ridiculously hard, I still believe that its all been worth it! Pictures to come...

1 year weights
Ella - 18lbs 11oz (13 percentile)
Claire - 16lbs 9oz (1 percentile)
Slade - 16lbs (.05 percentile)

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Gymboree

Last week we went to Gymboree while my sister was in town and the triplets loved it! Slade especially loved the bubbles and parachute games. However, it was a trial run and there is no way we are signing up. For 1xweek (45min class) it costs 72$...for one child. So basically to sign all three up it would be about the same as a small car payment. However, I learned some fun ideas and will try and create my own Gymboree classes at home for now!




Thursday, June 17, 2010

Hip Hip Hooray!

So today we got the go ahead from the pedi to stop our night feeds, HOOOOORAAAAYYY! We have to gradually decrease it but by Tuesday night, we should be getting a shot at 8 hours at least. Slade & Claire are still in the 0% for any age above 6 months but she is confident that they will make up the calories during the day now that they eat 2 meals of solids a day as well. So yipppeee for us, now lets just hope they agree with the new situation!

Here is a picture of the trio with Grandma & Granpa at their new house!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Segway

So a little non-baby info for today. My dad and I decided to take a Segway tour of downtown and it was GREAT! I know what your thinking, bicycle helmet, super dork, right? Well I thought so too but I was so wrong. It was so fun and such a weird experience for your body to gain the right equilibrium to drive one of these things. At first I was terrible at it and very wobbly but by the end I was zooming down hills at 12mph.


On another note, Ella has a tooth! Good for eating...bad for the arms of her brother and sister!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Spaghetti and Pools

So this week we have had a lot of fun already! On the few sunny days we made a couple trips to the local pools to the joy of the babies. Well, only Ella actually LOVED it, but the other two enjoyed the outings as well! On the rainy days we tried to find fun indoor activities and the highlight was our spaghetti bonanza! Not only did they work their motor skills by playing and transferring it from hand to hand, but they also got to eat some as well. It entertained them for a full 1/2 hour, which for us is wonderful!
The girls are ready to head out!

Ella is ready for the pool...or Hollywood...


Claire enjoys a splash with Grandma



Ella & Slade explore in their floaties

Ella didn't quite make it to her crib afterwards...

"Hmmm do I like this or not?"
Oh yes, I do!
Rolling in it is fun too!
Mom's best shot at a panoramic view

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Lurking Night Monsters

So, I broke my children. I turned them into lurking night monsters who thought that at any peep they should wake up and begin crying. Since I thought that a baby should never cry, I rocked them over and over again for 8-10 hours at night, because I thought it would get better with time. It got worse. I started to find myself with no more than 30 min. at a time at night with silence...all night. Thirty min. of rocking turned into about an hour of sleep per baby. I slept a few hours around 7pm before Brian went to bed and then for a couple more when my mom came in the morning, but overall it still didn't amount to much. Then last Sunday night I finally broke. After hours of quick rocks I found myself rocking Claire in the living room and listening to Ella cry in the bedroom. When Claire was finally asleep I moved her in the playpen and then went and rocked Ella in the bedroom. When she was just about asleep, I began hearing Claire cry in the living room. So I repeated the process only to have Slade wake up to eat. With both girls asleep, I fed him. But then I heard Ella again. So I put Slade in the swing and got Ella. Oh but Claire didn't want to miss out so she began to cry as well. So I put her in the large pen to play while I rocked Ella. Yet, no one liked this arrangement. So hear around 4am I found all three babies crying and I gave in as well. What is wrong with these kids? They are 10 months, even 7 months adjusted and refuse to sleep more than 1-2 hours at a time. That's when I realized that we were the problem, not them. We catered to every need at every second and with three babies, that is exhausting. So I decided that they were old enough now to try out some sleep methods and hoped that one would work. So I put the girls in their cribs and began researching. I liked the no-cry methods but they seemed impossible with three babies, plus isn't that what I've been doing for the last 7 months? But I hated to just let them "cry it out."

So I found a happy medium with what is called "The Ferber Method." Yes this is very controversial and I understand. But until you go 7 months with 25 old week triplets crying all night, I hope people will refrain from judgement. So I bought the book. Basically, you put your kids on a strict bedtime and nap schedule and stick to it. You lay your babies in their cribs asleep drowsy but not asleep and leave the room. They cry. You wait about 3 min. and then go and rub their backs, tell them you love them and leave the room within 60 sec. Then you wait 5 min. and repeat. Every night you increase the visiting intervals. In the middle of the night if they wake you do the same process. I will admit, it sucks. It sucks to hear your babies cry because all they want is to be rocked. But I said I would try this for a week. The first few days we ended up with usually about 30min of crying before all three were asleep. We had about 3 wake ups at night but they never hit 4 min. After about day 4, while we still had about 25min of crying at bedtime, we barely heard a peep from any of them except when we wake them up to eat at 10 and 2. At this point they easily fall back to sleep.

I didn't want to have to do this and every night I still hate the part of myself that doesn't rush in their and rock them to sleep even if it means I only get a couple hours per night. But what makes me ok is that now every morning when they get up, they wake up talking, not crying. They smile all morning and stick out their tongues. They are happier babies. We are still working on the naps but in general, they are doing great. Slade is talking and moving around more than ever and the girls laugh all the time and are way less grouchy in the early evening.

So after 1 week on this program, I am happy to say that not only have the babies mastered their nights, I was able to get just about 7 hours of sleep and am a happy and better mom today!

If your kids are lurking night monsters and you have been broken, I highly recommend this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Solve-Your-Childs-Sleep-Problems/dp/0743201639/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275395379&sr=1-1